Apparatus for applying labels to bottles



Oct-Z2, 1968 R. R. DELLA VIT E I 3,407,103

APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LABELS TO BOTTLES I Filed June 12, 1964 UnitedStates Patent 3,407,108 APPARATUS FOR APPLYING LABELS T0 BOTTLES RomualdRen Della Vite, Nogent-sur-Marne, France,

assignor to Societe anonyme dite: Societe Francaise dEtiquetage Virey &Garnier, a corporation of France Filed June 12, 1964, Ser. No. 374,630Claims priority, application France, June 27, 1963,

2 Claims. Cl. 156-458) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A labelling machinewhose turret has a plurality of cavities adapted to receive bottles andto press labels fed to the periphery of the turret and spanning thecavities into the latter while the suction along one of the edgesflanking the cavity is maintained and along the other edge isdiscontinued to permit the label to be held at one side while the otherside slides along the corresponding edge of the cavity to smooth thecorresponding end of the label against the bottle; the suction at theother side is then released to free the label which is smoothed againstthe bottle as the latter passes along its transport path. The machine isa further development of my Patent 3,196,070.

Labelling machines are already known wherein the label extracted from amagazine is gummed and subsequently transferred through suitable meansto a turret comprising a plurality of stations, the outer periphery ofthis turret being formed with cavities adapted to receive the bottles tobe labelled. The turret with its peripheral labelling stations isadapted to revolve about a vertical axis past an endless belt conveyortransporting the bottles. The bottles register in succession with thesuccessive peripheral cavities of the turret. The labels are retained onthe turret periphery and in front of the aforesaid cavities by suctionholes (see my copending application Ser. No. 120,236, filed June 28,1961, now US. Patent No. 3,196,070). Various mechanisms are subsequentlyoperated for applying the label to the bottle. These means may consistfor example of pads or blocks lined with cellular rubber projecting fromthe cavity when the bottle is aligned therewith, each pad or blockprojecting until it applies the label to the bottle surface. Otherdevices which may be provided either separately or in combination withthe aforestated means include blower nozzles adapted to blow air forprojecting the label from the turret surfaces and directing same ontothe desired location of the bottle surface. In machines constructedprior to the present application, e.g. as described in theaforementioned copending application, I have also provided turretsformed with external cavities bounded on the outer peripheral surface ofthe turret by straight or inclined edges constituting the label-pressingportions as the label is held ahead of and behind the cavity by theaforesaid suction holes. In this case the bottle was sunk into eachcavity with the consequence that the gummed label was pushed into thecavity. Unfortunately,-various inconveniences were observed in theoperation of this arrangement. On the one hand, by causing the bottle topush the label into the cavity, pleats developed in the label in manycases and, on the other hand, front and/ or rear marginal portions ofthe label emerged from the cavity (in the direction of rotation of theturret) and formed vertical strips not adhering to the bottle since thefurther penetration of the bottle into the cavity ceased when the bottlecontacted the edges or side portions of this cavity.

Under these conditions, it was necessary to complete 3,407,108 PatentedOct. 22, 1968 the application of the leading and trailing edges of thelabel by using either blowing devices as mentioned hereinabove orsmoothing devices. Yet, when a bottle leaves the labelling station witha label having marginal portions not adhering to the bottle surface,these marginal portions are likely to be folded or crumpled so that theycannot easily be brought into contact with the bottle as required.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide animproved labelling device which makes it possible to dispense with theuse of fragile or complicated complementary mechanisms or with the useof blowers for acting upon the leading and trailing marginal portions ofthe label at the labelling station. This device, constituting aconsiderable improvement over hitherto known devices and arrangements,is nevertheless extremely simple and particularly reliable the systemthus provides for properly fitting or tensioning the label at thelabelling station at either end of the label by pressing the labelagainst the bottle when the latter is introduced into the turret cavity,thereby avoiding folds, pleats and the like while causing the label toadhere completely to the bottle surface. Furthermore, with this devicethe provision of a marginal label portion gummed but not adhering to thebottle can be dispensed with, at least at one end of the label. Thus, bysimply selecting the label end on which it is desired to leave a stripnot adhering to the bottle and with due regard for the smoothing meansprovided at the exit end of the labelling station, this projectingmarginal portion may be caused to adhere to the bottle surface safelyand without any risk of crumpling, tearing or folding thereof.

This improved device comprises, at the front and rear ends of eachperipheral cavity formed in the turret, a plurality of suction holesdisposed in the vicinity of the turrets peripheral surface, the suctioneffect produced through these holes being so adjustable, that when thebottle is being inserted into the cavity, until it engages the edgesbounding same, the suction is discontinued on one side. Thus, as aconsequence of the thrust applied through the bottle, one of themarginal portions of the label slips over the outer surface of theturret and the label is wrapped around the bottle under a certaintension, the label slippage being so calculated that when the bottleengages the edges bounding the ingress of the cavity the slidingmarginal portion of the label is applied along the corresponding line ofcontact between the bottle and the corresponding edge.

According to a specific embodiment of this invention, the suctioneffected through the front suction holes is released first and permitsthe sliding movement of the label over the turret surface, the rearsuction holes being kept operating to prevent any slippage of the labelon this side.

According to another feature of this invention, the means provided forsmoothing the label at the exit end of the labelling station to completethe adherence of the trailing edge of the label to the bottle is suchthat the bottle is rotated in a sense opposite to the turret rotation.

Other features and advantages of this invention will appear as thefollowing descriptions proceeds with reference to the attached drawingin which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view representing the developmentof the peripheral plane of a labelling turret, wherein the upper portionillustrates a cavity adapted to receive the neck of a bottle forapplying a small label thereon, the lower portion showing another cavityfor receiving the bottle body for applying the main label thereon;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic and fragmentary sectional view showing the topof a labelling station with a bottle registering with the correspondingcavity formed on the outer periphery of the turret;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are views similar to FIG. 2, showing the sequence of stepscorresponding to the introduction of the bottle into the cavity; and

FIG. shows the bottle extracted from the labelling station and beingconveyed towards the smoothing station for causing the nonadhiringtrailing edge of the label to bond to the bottle surface.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 the reference characters 101 and1b designate the upper and lower turret elements in which cavities suchas 2 and 3 are formed.

The outer periphery of the turret may comprise, for example, ten or morelabelling stations as shown in my above-mentioned copending application.Each labelling station consists of a cavity 2 used for applying thesmall label 4 and of a larger cavity 3 adapted to apply the main label5. The dot-dash lines 6 designate the bottle to which the small and mainlabels 4, 5 are to be applied. The cavities 2 and 3 have a certain depthand constitute therefore recesses in the outer periphery of the turretwhich are bounded on the cylindrical surface of this turret by edges 2a,2b on the one hand and edges 3a, 312 on the other. The inner and outercontours of these cavities or recesses depend essentially on the shapeof the bottles to be labelled, not on the label dimensions. On the outerperipheral surface of the turret framing these cavities and along theseedges, suction holes or cups are provided at the front or 30 and at therear 2d or 3d. These suction holes or cups are termed front (forwardly)or rear (rearwardly) with respect to the direction of rotation of theturret which is assumed to revolve in the direction shown by the arows 7and 8. These suction holes are intended for keeping the small and mainlabels tensioned over the turret surface across the aperturesconstituted by the cavities 2 and 3.

In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 of the drawing, the same reference characters as inFIG. 1 are used to designate the component elements of turret 1b inconnection with the application of the main label. However, thefollowing description is also applicable in all respects to the pastingof the small label onto the bottle neck.

When a bottle registers radially with the cavity 3, the label 5transferred from the gumming station to the turret is preferablytensioned between the edges 3a and 3b at the front and rear endsrespectively of cavity 3. The trailing edge 5a of label 5 is held by thesuction produced through holes 3d, and the leading edge 5b of this labelis retained by the suction produced through holes So. This is indicatedby the arrows 11, 12 in FIG. 2. Then, by actuating a mechanism such asthat of my prior patent the bottle 6 is moved towards the cavity asshown in FIG. 3, the bottle continuing its movement towards the centerof the turret until it attains the limiting inner position shown in FIG.4. From the moment the bottle 6 contacts the label (FIG. 3) thedistribution of suction to the front and rear holes is altered so thatthe suction produced at the holes 3c becomes a definitely weaker thanthat produced at the holes 3a (arrow 11, FIGS. 3 and 4). This unbalanceor uneven distribution of vacuum is such that the pressure exerted bythe bottle on the label causes the label edge 5b to slip over the outerperipheral surface of the turret as the label is gradually caused toassume a part-cylindical configuration until it conforms to thecurvature of the bottle body. During this progressive penetration ofcavity 3 by bottle 6, the label remains nevertheless tensioned, thuscurving around the bottle body as the latter approaches its point ofdeepest penetration (FIG. 4) of cavity 3. It is clear that during thisradially inward movement the label tension avoids the formation ofpleats of folds while causing the label to adhere strongly to the bottlebody.

It is possible, by carefully calculating the width of the above-definedmarginal portion or strip 5b, to stop the slippage of this strip justwhen the bottle engages simultaneously both edges 3a and 3b, the leadingedge (FIG. 4) of the label registering more particularly, if desired,with the line of contact between the edge 3b and the bottle 6. Thus,with this arrangement the leading or front portion of the label willbecome perfectly adherent to the bottle, up to its extreme limit.Nevertheless, although the rear portion 5a of the label is gummed, it isretained on the turret by the suction effect produced through the rearholes 3d during this stage of the labelling operation. When the bottle 6has completed its engagement with the edges 3a and 3b, a suitablemechanical contact may be used for discontinuing the suction through theholes 3d and thus release the strip or marginal portion 5a (FIG. 5).Then the bottle moves out from the cavity 3 and is transferred to thesmoothing station with counterclockwise rotation, as indicated by arrow9, opposite to the clockwise rotation of the turret as symbolized by thearrows 7 and 8, so that the rear or trailing edge 5a of the label may becaused to adhere perfectly, without any risk of folding or pleating, tothe corresponding portion of the bottle body. It may be noted that thebottle approaches the smoothing station with the label portion 50adhering perfectly to the bottle body, thereby preventing the formationof any fold or pleat.

Reference to my prior Patent N0. 3,196,070 shows that the relativeradial motion of turret 1a or 1b and bottle 6 in the instant applicationcan be simply brought about by rotation of theturret about its axis(clockwise, arrow 7) while the bottle travels along a linear guidepathtangential to the periphery of the turret. Suction in channel 30adjacent the leading edge of cavity 3 is cut off or sharply reduced in aposition of incipient penetration (FIG. 3), the suction in channel 3d atthe trailing edge being maintained until after the bottle 6 reaches thepoint of deepest penetration (FIG. 4) which is positively determined bythe inwardly converging flanks of the cavity which has a trapezoidalcross-section in the plane of rotation.

Mention is made in the foregoing of the unbalance produced between thesuction effects through holes 3c and 3d respectively, and in thisconnection it may be noted that this unbalance, given equal negativepressures may be obtained in a simple manner by suitably porportioningthe surface area of the suction holes, the holes 3d being larger thanholes 30.

The technique whereby the label is caused to slip forwardly is obviouslyalso applicable in the case of a backward-slipping label. In this caseit is the rear portion of the label that is bonded up to its endmosttransverse marginal portion while the non-adhering marginal portion islocated at the front. This would further require that when the bottle istransferred from the labelling station to the smoothing station it isrotated in the opposie direction with respect to the direction thatshown by the arrow 9.

It will be noted however that it is preferably to retain the label byits trailing edge and to allow it to slip forwardly, for in thispreferred case a rotation of about only one fourth of a revolution inthe direction of the arrow 9 is sufficient at the smoothing station,instead of about three-quarters of a revolution if the rotation iseffected in the opposite direction.

Of course, many modifications and variations may be made of theembodiment shown and described herein, without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Thus, notably, the above-described slipping movement of the label mayalso be used in the case of containers having special contours,requiring the curving of the label about an axis other than a transverseaxis.

What I claim is:

1. In a labelling machine having a turret rotatable about an axis andprovided with at least one peripheral cavity flanked by first suctionmeans at a leading edge and second suction means at a trailing edge ofsaid cavity as seen in the direction of rotation, said suction meansbeing adapted to hold a label with an outwardly directed adhesivesurface stretched across said cavity upon approaching the location of agenerally cylindrical container adapted to have said label afiixedthereto on penetrating partly into said cavity, the improvement whereinsaid first and second suction means are provided with control means formaking one of said suction means substantially less eifective than theother suction means upon incipient penetration of said container intosaid cavity, whereby one one of the label is released and applied by theadjoining cavity edge against the surface of the container while theother end of the label remains fixed to the turret, and for subsequentlydeactivating said other suction means to release the label completely.

2. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein the spacing of said edgesis so related to the length of said label that said one end comes intofull contact with the container surface at the point of deepestpenetration, said cavity having inwardly converging front and rearflanks for positively defining said point of deepest penetration.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,788,150 4/1957 Rose 156--444 X3,222,240 12/1965 Carter et a1. 156486 X 3,138,508 6/1964 Fairest 156215X 2,773,617 12/1956 Weiss 156568 X EARL M. BERGERT, Primary Examiner.

PHILIP DIER, Assistant Examiner.

